Best Infant Car Seat for Twins - A list for moms pregnant with twins

If you are a mom pregnant with twins, one of the questions you'll be asking yourself is "What is the best infant car seat for twins?" This was a question I agonized over for months while I was pregnant before finally settling on the Chicco Keyfit 30. It looks like this is my week for talking cars and car seats so here's my advise to anyone in the process of buying infant car seats for their twins.

One of the most challenging parts of having 2 or more babies at the same time is figuring out how to transport them from one point to another. I've put together a list of car seats and strollers for parents who have twins or more. The criteria for choosing the infant car seat?

• Must have a lower weight limit of 4lbs specified by manufacturer
• Must have a separate base that stays in the car
• Must have at least one double stroller that can accomodate 2 of the seats at the same time

Infant Car Seats for Twins Best Bets
Britax B-Safe, Britax Chaperone, Chicco Keyfit, Chicco Keyfit30 and Graco Snugride 30. Here are the infant seats that passed the test and their compatible strollers. Click the pictures for more information and reviews from other parents



Runners Up
1. The Peg Perego Duette will take 2 of their infant car seats but is not included in the list because the car seats are rated for 5lbs and up
2. There are several twin frame strollers. Some are only compatible with same manufacturer car seats

• Inglesina Domino Twin: Compatible with Inglesina seats only
• Baby Trend Snap and Go: The most recent one in stores is compatible with just about every infant car seat according to their tag
• Double Decker twin stoller: Will accomodate 2 Graco or Evenflo seats

Infant Car Seats and Strollers For Triplets
The options for triplets are a more tricky. All in all there are 2 options for moving around with infant triplets

Triplet strollers that will take 3 infant car seats: The Peg Perego Triplette stroller and the Inglesina Domino Trio will take 3 of their brand's infant car seats. The Double Decker Triplet stroller will take 3 Graco or Evenflo seats

Triplet strollers that will fully recline for newborns: Baby Jogger Summit XC stroller

With a few exceptions, all the car seats and strollers listed can be purchased off the Amazon Baby Store. Click here to view their vast selection. I'm a big fan of Amazon and purchase my stroller off their website because it came with free shipping and a one year return policy - the best return policy out there.

Cars and SUVs for 2 Infant Car Seats

This post is part of my first year with twins recap. Over the last 12 months, I have had the twins in a variety of cars and suvs. This is how the vehicles I tried out fared with 2 infant seats.

Mazda5 with 2 infant seats installed with base
Rear Seat configuration: 2 rows of captains' chairs
Access to 3rd row: The infant seats had to be removed to access the 3rd row.
In Car Feeding: Required contorting myself, balancing on the armrest and feeding the babies. Not comfortable at all
Comfort of 3rd row: Not comfortable for anyone taller than 5ft
Cargo capacity: Good with the third row down. This is my everyday car and it easily handles one double stroller, one single stroller and a cart full of groceries. With the third row up, it can handle the groceries but not the strollers

Mazda3 with 2 infant seats
Rear Seat configuration: 1 bench row. With infant seats installed, the front seats became uncomfortable for anyone taller than 5'5 (I'm 5'6). Probably could have got that extra inch if I used the infant seats without the base
Cargo capacity: The trunk of the Mazda 3 is actually quite sizeable for a compact car. and could comfortably take a single stroller and groceries. This was my pre-mommy, red, hot, sporty car. I tried to drive with the seats installed because I really loved this car, but it was impossible.

Buick Enclave with 2 infant seats
Rear Seat configuration: 2nd row captains' chairs and bench 3rd row
Access to 3rd row: The infant seats had to be removed to access the 3rd row but it was possible to walk down the aisle from the front passenger seat to the back
In Car Feeding: Even though the car was spacious, sitting in the third row and stretching bottles to the second row was not comfortable at all
Comfort of 3rd row: Very comfortable for adults
Cargo capacity: Good with the third row down. This was the car we rented for our first vacation

Nissan Rogue with 2 infant seats (No base used)
Rear Seat configuration: 1 bench row
In Car Feeding: The most comfortable of all the cars. I was able to sit between the two carseats and feed the babies, just like I would do at home
Cargo capacity: Just managed to squeeze 2 carryon suitcases and a single stroller in. This was the rental for our second vacation

Mercedes Benz R-Class with 2 infant seats
Rear Seat configuration: 2 rows of captains' chairs
Access to 3rd row: Easy. I actually installed the infant seats in the 3rd row with little discomfort
Comfort of 3rd row: Great
Cargo capacity: Didn't look like much. This was a car we test-drove in Carmax

Chevy Tahoe with 2 infant seats
Rear Seat configuration: 2 rows of bench seats
Access to 3rd row: Not great for an SUV this size
Comfort of 3rd row: Not comfortable for anyone taller than 4ft
Cargo capacity: Ok with the third row down, very poor with third row up. This was a rental that I kept for 5 minutes before driving back to request a change. This car was a major disappointment considering it's external size.

Dodge Grand Caravan with 2 infant seats (No base)
Rear Seat configuration: 1 row of captains' chairs and 1 bench row
Access to 3rd row: The infant seats had to be removed to access the 3rd row but the middle aisle was very generous for a walk from the front passanger seat
Comfort of 3rd row: Good
Cargo capacity: One word describes this - IMPRESSIVE! This was the car that we used to the Houston airport for our move. With the third row down, we packed 2 single strollers, 7 suitcases and 3 carryon bags AND still had room. I honestly could not believe that 

Ford Explorer with 2 infant seats (No Base Used)
Cargo capacity: This was the rental car from when we landed Calgary. It could not do as good a job as the Grand Caravan with the same amount of luggage - 2 single strollers, 7 suitcases and 3 carryon bags. We had to squeeze some items behind the front row seats

Final Notes: The seats used were the Chicco Keyfit30 which can be purchased here


Disclosure of Material Connection: (Because the government said so)

I, Have no material connection with the products or services mentioned

Have affiliate links in the post but my opinions are my own and not paid 

Have received a free sample for review but my opinions are still my own

Have been compensated by a company for this post but my opinions are still my own

Relocating with Twin Babies - Sleeping Arrangements

Due to my move, I've been living out of a suitcase for over a month now. Relocating with twin babies is not easy but I'm really glad with the sleeping arrangements we have thanks to the Kidco Peapod travel beds.

I got 2 on sale from a USA BAby store closing and I'm really glad I did. They take up minimum floor space in our rented accomodations so I'm able to still co-sleep with the babies. It took the girls a few days to adjust to the new sleeping arrangements but since then, they've been sleeping quite well in the beds. One plus is that it can be zipped so the babies don't roll out in the middle of the night and unzipped in the morning so the girls know the feeling of getting out of bed by themselves.

I think I like the independence it gives them. Now I understand why the Montessorri way is so big on placing mattresses on the floor.

I'm linking up with Julia who's got some chocovine love going on. Not sure what chocovine is? Check out her blog to find out.

Several variations of the Peapon can be purchased on Amazon

Disclosure of Material Connection: (Because the government said so)

I, Have no material connection with the products or services mentioned

Have affiliate links in the post but my opinions are my own and not paid 

Have received a free sample for review but my opinions are still my own

Have been compensated by a company for this post but my opinions are still my own

Transition to Sippy Cup for Baby

Transitioning to sippy cups for my babies  was in retrospect an event that took 3 months. This post is in response to an anonymous comment on my One Year Old update post asking how I got Spice to finally accept her sippy cup as I had previously posted that she was absolutely refusing the cup.

Based on my experience with the two girls, it appears that transitioning to sippy cup for babies is based on physical and emotional readiness.

Physical Readiness 

This is a function of the cup's ease of use and the baby's gross motor skills and muscular development. The first part of using a sippy is learning to suck out of it with motion that's different from the sucking motion used with bottle. My girls learnt to suck out of a cup by using the Green Sprouts sippy which had no valve in it. We used water at this stage.

Once the girls mastered the sucking as well as the lifting, I switched to the Playtex First Sipster because it was big enough to take 8oz of fluid, it was relatively leak-proof and the valve part was easy to wash. It was at this point that Spice started refusing to take formula out of the cup. Now, the Playtex cup seemed a bit heavy especially when full of formula and I suspected that added to her refusal.

Third step was to use a sippy cup that was easy to lift and hold when filled with a feeding's worth of milk. For us, that was 8oz. I found that cups and bottles with handles were harder for my babies to hold when full as the weight of the cup and the hand positioning required was awkward and too much of a strain on their wrists. They much preferred cups and bottles that can be gripped using their palms and fingers. That is what lead us to the sippy du jour and our cheapest cup till date - the Nuby.

The shape was perfect for little hands to hold and lift without strain. That took care of physical readiness.   

Emotional Readiness

Once we addressed the issue of cup selection, the only obstacle was emotional readiness. Now this is a function of the kid's personality. From reading the Wonder Weeks, I learnt that what seems normal to adults is new and strange to babies. Some babies embrace the new by diving in headfirst, and some babies are more cautious and scared. Sugar falls into the first category most times and Spice to the second. To help Spice make the final emotional leap into self-feeding, we did the following: 

• While feeding, position her hands on the cup to show her how to support the cup. Result: She held on but when we let go of the cup, she'll fling it away and scream. Parent Reaction: Pick cup up and continue feeding without any recriminations
• Next step, place cup on her chair tray during mealtimes without holding it up for her. Result: She'll throw away the cup with all the disdain a toddler can muster without words Parent Reaction: Pick the cup and calmly set it back on the tray without fuss of drama. After the third or fourth time, she'd be so upset that I'll end up feeding her.

Step 2 went on for close to a week at every mealtime, until one day she was too hungry to care about who held the cup so she picked it up and drank her milk and that was the end of the transitioning to sippy cup for Ms Spice.

I believe the cincher was to accept her refusal to drink without drama while giving her every opportunity to pick up the cup herself. I confess I learnt this from several mommy bloggers who chronicle their attempts at potty training and my current daycare's discipline approach. Give no attention to the unwanted behaviour and praise the one you want. Ignore but don't recriminate or push the issue so that it seems to be a bigger deal than it is. When refusal to hold the cup is an emotional issue rather than a physical one, non-dramatic patience is the only tool in the parent's armoury

It may not work for everybody, but that's what worked for us and I know that I'm going to need this No-Drama approach on a lot of other issues. So far, so good. I know some experienced moms are reading this, so please do tell what teaching methods worked for you?

PS:The third part of this post is mommy's emotional readiness. I confess that I may have whined several times to my sister that my babies are too young to not get at least one bottle a day; so I held on to the morning bottle feedings for as long as I could. I only let go of the last bottles because I ran out of drop-in liners

Disclosure of Material Connection: (Because the government said so)

I, Have no material connection with the products or services mentioned

Have affiliate links in the post but my opinions are my own and not paid

Have received a free sample for review but my opinions are still my own

Have been compensated by a company for this post but my opinions are still my own

Ways to Save on a First Birthday Party

I'm all for my babies having fabulous birthday parties, but the frugalista in me won't let me spend ridiculous amounts and the utilitarian in me won't let me indulge in any impractical endeavour. So with all that in mind, here are some ideas I had for giving my babies a fabulous but sensible birthday party

• Theme colors: I like the idea of a themed party but they can get pretty expensive. My fix, pick colors from a holiday just before the party. That way once the holiday is over and all the nick-nacks are on clearance in the stores, I can buy them for peanuts. This works great for table covers, paper napkins, plates, drinkware and decor. I really love the St Patrick's day greens, the valentine's day reds and the easter pastels
• Useful party favors: I much prefer party favors that are educational or useful. A great way to get these is to buy in September once all the back to school items are on sale. Mandy also gave me a great idea of including little books - I've seen these for as low as a $1 on sale racks. 
• Educational favors: Apart from the above, a store that caters to teachers was a good source of $1.50 books for me. They had sticker books, coloring books and activity books. All were from Dover Publishing and can be ordered direct from the website. Additionally, they have a 10% bulk discount and ship internationally
• Decoration Favors: I decorated with helium balloons and tied a goody bag to the end of each balloon. At the end of the party, the kids were estatic to go home with a balloon and a goody bag and I was happy to not have a room full of balloons.
• Cheap party favors: One good thing about a November birthday? Buying halloween candy on sale. 'Nuff said (If this was a confessional post, I will tell you I have "tasted" 25 of the 50 bags of candy in the box, but it's not a confessional so...)
• Venue: Parks are free and community halls or apartment complex social rooms are cheap with no food restrictions if the house is too small for all the guests
• Guests: Speaking of guests, the babies can easily be overwhelmed with a crowd especially since separation anxiety kicks in around this time. I tried to keep the crowd small with just 6 kids invited. In the end, both girls enjoyed playing with the other kids and barely noticed the 3 additonal adults
• Invitations: Free at Evite. Everyone has an email address and RSVPs are easier




Disney Princess Tiana Cakes for Twins


• Cakes: I forgot my craft gene on the busstop bench in high school so I have to do with grocery store cakes. They are not bad at all and most stores are willing to put an extra touch on the cake. With 2 babies and 2 cakes, I was glad to flip through the 100 page cake catalogue in my grocery store. We got 2 Disney princess cakes and had them put the Princess Tiana head on both
• Birthday outfits: Shop around and explore all options. In retrospect, I wish I had skipped the dress and got the nice tutu and leggings outfits from Gymboree. The girls would have been more comfortable

The day was awesome if I do say so myself. This post is linked up to Amanda's top ten Tuesday

One Year Old Twins

Well, after all the buildup and anticipation, the day(s) came, we had fun and now it's back to normal. The girls had their birthday on Wednesday wherein they polished off a cupcake each. I've been delaying the stats update because I do not have my weight scale, but can't put that off any more.

SpIce aka Twin A

Weight: No idea  but some of the smaller pants are getting snug. I can't wait to do a weight check actually
Dress size: 9 - 12months but still wearing 9m Carters sleepers
Diaper size: Size 3 

 

Sugar aka Twin B

Weight: See comments for Spice

Dress size: 9 - 12 months
Diaper size: Size 3


Feeding Schedule
We now have 2 schedules, one for the weekdays in daycare and one for the weekend. Regardless, the girls are up by 7am and they get 8oz each of whole milk. Spice gets lactose-free milk while Sugar gets 3% homogenized milk.
On weekdays, they get a cereal bar after their milk and off to daycare where they get a morning snack around 9am. The morning snack is usually some fruit and carb. On weekends at home, they get a bigger breakfast after their cup of milk and I skip the 9am snack.
Lunch is around 11:30am and consists to another 8oz of milk in a sippy cup followed by the baby-version of an adult lunch (meat, carb and vegetable). 3:00 is time for an afternoon snack that could be rice cakes, fruit, yoghurt melts etc with water. Dinner is at 6:00pm and that's also an 8oz cup of milk followed by meat/cheese, carb (rice or pasta or plantain). I definitely need to have more vegetables in their dinner.

Sleep Schedule

At home, the girls still like their one hour morning nap from 9:30am and another afternoon nap. In the daycare, they've been fighting the morning nap and having one longer nap in the afternoon instead.

Development

Physical: Both girls are cruising comfortably and Sugar has tried to stand on her own a few times (her record is 8 seconds).

Verbal and Social: The girls love to play with each other and aggravate each other (depending on the time of the day). They still love to play tag, peekaboo and of recent, they wake up in the morning and smash their faces together. I'm guessing that's a "good morning sister" kiss. That's the good, cute part.
On some days, Spice wants to cuddle and insists on putting her head on Sugar's tummy and Sugar's having none of it and trying desperately to shove her sister away except that Spice is still bigger and therefore harder to push off. On other days, Sugar INSISTS on playing and Spice just wants to be left alone and crawls as fast as she can to get away from her sister. Unfortunately for her, Sugar is faster so she can't get away.  I'm learning to intervene a lot less and let them build the boundaries and set the rules for their own relationship as long as extreme physical foul is not being commited. 
Spice has a vocabulary of 2 discernable words - mama and dada. Sugar's vocabulary is 50% bigger at 3 words - mama, tdati (daddy) and numyum (food or hungry.

Emotional: Interacting with mommy and daddy, both babies have become a lot more opinionated. They don't need words to convey their displeasure with a snack, their car seat or getting changed.

Where did a year go? I'll be switching to quarterly or half-yearly stats going forward and I just may have photo updates instead. Still in the initial thought process.

Have a great thanksgiving week y'all

Happy Birthday Babies

What can I say without turning into a blubbering fool. I'm more than blessed to be your mom. I'm also highly favored. Wouldn't change the last 12 months for all the gold in wherever-they-store-gold-these-days.

May The Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.

      May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

More Lessons from Twin Parenting

Some moments of motherhood are profound and some are mundane. Here's a list of 10 more mundane lessons that I learnt.

1. Parenting has to be intentional - I noticed that I rarely focused on the babies 100%. My brain was always racing ahead to my list of things to do. I fed the babies while checking twitter and facebook and my blog reader. Something felt wrong. Were the babies interferring with my internet or was the internet interferring with my mothering?. So I took a telecomms break. For 20 days in January, I didn't use a computer or my phone. Not being able to use those, I was able to redirect my attention solely on the babies and actually enjoy them moment by moment and notice the little things. 
2. Start 'em young - Any habit that will be intolerable in a toddler, don't allow in an infant. This really worked when it came to sleep training.
3. Discipline is not a luxury - It takes discipline to prepare for the night feedings before going to bed, but the reward is I'm not stumbling all around the house at 3 am.
4. Parenting skills are not necessarily inborn - But they can be learnt. There's lessons to learn and books to read. Not seeking the knowledge-base available to parents just panders to ignorance. And an ignorant parent is a dangerous parent.
5. Drop the cape - The Superwoman cape that is. You can't do it all or alone. I was superwoman until one morning, after giving Sugar a bath, I went to the room to pick Spice up and instead I just fell into bed. I tried to get up but couldn't. The car was out of gasoline and fumes. I spent the next 2 days in bed unable to get up or do anything for myself. It was scary and I learnt my lesson. I need to take care of myself so that I can be strong and healthy to take care of my babies. The cape had to go (and the Hawaiian sweet rolls too)
6. Motherhood doesn't cure shopaholism but it changes it's form
7. Think outside the box - the box store that is. Get babyproofing supplies from the Home Depot. Order diapers and wipes online. Use a beer cooler as a lunch bag
8. Never say never
9. Blame it on mommy brain - when you do things like put new clothes in the washing machine with the tags and hangar still on. Or throw babies' bottles in the trash and neatly arrange a pile of used tissues on the countertop. Or regularly inform your friends and sisters that you've lost your cell phone while talking to them on said lost cell phone
10. To thine own self be true - Being an internet-loving mom, I come across a lot of  ideas related to mothering. The worst thing I can do to myself and my babies is do something popular that is totally contradictory to my personality. Sort of like my patio vegetable garden. the result is usually an epic fail

Most Important Lesson in Twin Parenting

I've learnt a lot about being a mother and parenting twins in the last 12 months. It's really been quite a steep learning curve for me; but the most important lesson I learnt about parenting twins took place when my babies were just 4 months old.

At that age, their personalities were already coming out. Spice's was more of what in my native language we call "Old woman's cat" ie. she loooved to cuddle and snuggle. Sugar was however more interested in independent play with things rather than people. So this fateful afternoon, I was home alone with the girls. Spice was snuggled up contentedly with me and Sugar was in her bouncer happily counting her fingers and marvelling that she had so many.

Spice and I had cuddled for 20 minutes and I started to feel bad that Sugar was left out of the one-on-one mommy time. So I put Spice down and picked Sugar up for some cuddling too. Bad call! Very bad call! Both babies got mega-upset and cried - Spice because she wanted to continue cuddling and Sugar because I just interrupted her play. In trying to treat my twins equally, I ended up with 2 unhappy babies and one frazzled mommy.

And that my good people is the most important lesson in twin parenting for me. Loving your twins must not equal treating them equally. Though they share a birthday and some DNA, they're 2 distinct personalities, speak different love languages and have very different parenting needs.

In Memory

When I was pregnant, the 2 blogs that I followed closely were by Megan and Meghan because we all shared the same due date.

Meghan was a cancer survivor pregnant with triplets. She had her triplets in October 2010 and was a proud and devoted mother. Was. She died on the 26th of October, 11 days after her babies' first birthday. She was a fighter till the end and left her babies with a legacy of love.

Here's an excerpt from one of the most touching posts on her blog

I need to vent and here is the only place I feel like I can really let it all out so here it goes...

My thoracic surgeon called and wants to do surgery to remove the tumors on my right side next week. This surgery will be bigger than any I've had in the past and recovery will be rough (his words). I will be in the hospital for a week and recovery time will be 6-8 weeks. TO add to that, he wants to go in and get the tumors on the left side 2-3 weeks after the left side surgery. We can't do it all at once because it's too much for my body to handle. Of course my biggest concern is these babies. My husband can't do it all alone. Yes, we have parents here and yes people have offfered to help but I feel so terrible having to be away from them. I know this is what I need to do in order to give me a better chance of survival but I just keep thinking that if I hadn't been so slefish in wanting babies that we woulnd't be in this situation.

What if I don't make it through it this time? What if my babies don't even get to have any memories of me but through the pictures we have taken so far? I know this sounds so morbid. In the past I thought about cancer taking me but nothing like this. I don't want my babies to grow up without a mom, I don't want my husband to lose his wife, I don't want my parents to lose a daughter, and I don't want my siblings to lose a sister.

My elderly neighbor just came over as I was writing this post and brought me a dozen yellow roses and a bamboo plant. As we were talking she says "God never gives us more than we can handle" and she doesn't know about any of the cancer stuff. It's so true and I needed to hear that.

Thanks for letting me vent (and cry as I wrote this post).

Please remember Meghan's family in your prayers.

Meghan's Blog
Blog for the triplets
Meghan's treatment journal
Book of memories

Birthday Countdown and Numbers

My babies are going to be a year old in another 7 days. Excuse me for a minute.

*Hiccups*

*Blow nose*

* Deep breath* *Steady Heart rate*

Ok, let's start that again.My babies are going to be a year old in another 7 days. I could insert all the time-centered cliches here but I'll spare you. Instead, I'll tell you that I'm celebrating:

18750 ounces of formula *GASP!*

220 ounces of breastmilk - I know, pathetic!

35 feeding bottles

22 pacifiers

14 sippy cups

2 healthy appetites

1 lactose sensitivity

0 allergies

4105 disposable diapers

8 sets of cloth diapers, 6 of which have since found a new home

3 strollers and I have a suspicious feeling this number is going to go up. I suffer from stroller envy at airports and theme parks. Speaking of which...

3079 airmiles per baby

23 nights in hotel rooms

5 flights

4 cities

2 vacations

1 driving ticket (for mommy not the babies)

0 accidents

8 nose-cleaning aka snot-removing appliances

3 episodes of diaper rash

2 scalps covered with cradle cap

1 ear infection and the attendant antibiotics complications

0 emergency room visits

68 sleep and play suits

Double that number or more of bodysuits (onesies)

18 pairs of shoes (2 that were never worn, 4 worn once and 6 worn less than 5 times each) 

3 earrings lost - 2 found 1 to go or gone forever

It's been a fun year and more importantly, it's been a super blessed year and I'm going to spend the next 7 days telling you all about it :)



Detangling Brush for Babies - Denman Tangle Tamer

I have just discovered the best detangling brush for my babies hair; it's the Denman Tangle Tamer. After the drama of cradle cap, my girls are growing their little afros back. Their baby curls are gone and the new hair growth is more adult like (Black hair quick tip: The hair texture babies are born with changes over the first year to a more adult texture).

Their adult texture is just like mommy's. Long, kinky and prone to shrinkage. They don't understand all those big words; all they know is that it really hurts when mommy combs their hair. They were crying so much that I started looking for detangling solutions that were suitable for babies. That's when I came across the Denman Tangle Tamer Children's Hair brush. The reviews on Amazon looked good so two clicks later, the brush was on its way.

Verdict: I love this. I use it to brush the girls hair before combing out with an afro comb and it really takes out most of the tangles painlessly so there's a lot less screaming when I get to the combing part.

I love this brush and it's been a well-spent $15!

Post-Antibiotics Baby Food

Spice has been having a horrible time for the last three weeks. It all started with an ear infection that needed a ten day course of antibiotics during which time her appetite dropped quite a bit. Then a few days after finishing the antibiotic course, she took over the diarrea baton from Sugar. My baby was pooping six times a day, totally miserable, clingy and dropped off her eating to barely 10 ounces of formula.

When it seemed like she was losing weight and becoming too lethargic, I decided to follow the pediatrician's advice from the 9 months check up to replace a bottle or two with Pediasure. As a bonus, it turns out that Pediasure is lactose free. (my sister had suggested switching to lactose free formula until the diarrhea period was over).

The result of the switch? Well, after the first bottle of Pediasure, I had a new baby. The food stayed in and for the first night in over a week, she slept just like a baby. By the end of the second day on Pediasure, my smiling happy baby was back in the house. She even poked Sugar in the eye a few times for good measure.

That's it, Pediasure is the best thing I could have done for my unhappy baby after her course of antibiotics. She's back to taking 24+ ounces a day and wolfing down her solids. Pediasure really worked for us.

Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We are that family blog.

My Birth Story - The Faith Version

"And I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, and the consuming locust, and the cutting locust, my great army which I sent among you." Joel 2:25

My theme for this month is restoration. As this is also our first birthday month, I cannot but share with you my story and why the verse above is so relevant to me.

For most of my adult life and due to a family tradition, I ring in the new year praying. The prayers start with thanking God for all the blessings of the year about to end and praising Him for the yet unseen blessings of the year ahead. As someone who had fertility struggles, one common theme in my prayers was asking God for my own child.

That was my prayer rolling into New Year's day of 2010 but somehow, the verse in Joel came to mind and I asked God for more than a child. I asked Him for a restoration of everything I had missed/lost in the previous 5 years of not having a child. I asked according to His word and He delivered beyond my wildest imagination. The joys and laughter of the last one year have made the pain and tears of the years before a distant memory.

That's my story and testimony of God's restoration in my life. Happy November peeps!